Japanese automakers recovering from violent Chinese protests

Japanese automakers seem to be recovering from the violent Chinese protests that hurt the countries’ economic relations as a year-on-year sales decrease in November shrank from that of October.

Leading automakers Toyota Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. recorded a smaller year-on-year decline in their Chinese sales for November since the anti-Japanese protests broke out in September amid the territorial row.

Toyota said Monday its sales decrease in China plunged to 22.1% from the previous year to 63,800 units compared to the figures for September and October, which saw sales declining by 48.9% and 44.1% respectively.

Mazda’s sales improved from a 44.9% decline in October and 35% in September to 29.7% year-on-year in November while Fuji Heavy Industries’ sales decreased 55.1% from the previous year, marking a better outlook than the last two months when sales declined 64.5% to 71.7%.

But automakers have yet to bring production back to normal levels.

Despite the less gloomy outlook, some dealerships are still struggling to reduce their large inventories and have resorted to 20% price cuts and car loans at preferential interest rates, reports the Asahi Shimbun.